Children with smartphones or tablets are more than twice as likely to get nits, new research has revealed.

The study by researchers from Oxford University found a whopping 62.5 per cent of youngsters with the electronic gadgets will experience head lice within a five-year period compared to only 29.5 per cent of children who did not have them.

The authors believe the trend could be down to how children gather around friends’ screens.

It also found head lice were more common among children surveyed who took selfies with 55 per cent of youngsters who snapped pictures of themselves having had nits. However, this link was not found to be statistically significant.

Parents visiting an Oxford hospital were given questionnaires about their children’s phone habits and head lice as part of the study.

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Experts found girls with siblings aged six to nine were most likely to have suffered from head lice over the past five years.

The findings were presented at the British Association of Dermatologists’ Annual Conference at ACC Liverpool.

Dr Tess McPherson, one of the researchers at the Oxford University Hospitals trust, said: “Compared to previous estimates of head lice incidence, our figures were much higher, showing that almost half of children have had them in the last five years, which may not come as a surprise to parents.

“We also noted that children with smartphones or tablets were more likely to get head lice, which is interesting but we can only guess that this is due to the way that young people gather around them, though there could be other reasons.”

An outbreak of head lice could mean a date with a nit comb

But she added: “Selfie culture gets its fair share of negative press so it’s worth noting that despite previous speculation it seems that selfies can’t specifically be blamed for helping the spread of head lice at this stage.”

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Matthew Gass, of the British Association of Dermatologists, added: “We’re not saying that smartphones are causing children to get head lice, but that there is a link, so if there’s an outbreak at home or at school, consider how electronic devices might cause children to congregate, allowing head lice to spread.

“A better understanding of how these pests are transmitted is useful. Prevention is always better than a cure, particularly if the cure means wrenching your poor daughter’s hair with a fine-toothed nit comb, or relying on over-the-counter remedies that head lice are increasingly resistant to.”